This note is a companion piece to The Three Pillars of the
Second Amendment, by Terence James Mason.

The new Feinstein "Assault Weapons Ban" is
Anti-Constitutional in the extreme.

In addition to the violation of the Second Amendment, which is
the primary and express purpose of the measure, the Feinstein bill
violates numerous other provisions of the Constitution, based on
the summary posted on Senator Feinstein's web site
web site
and
web site1
and the
additional
information posted by the National Rifle
Association Institute for Legislative Action.
I have not seen the text of the legislation, and have not been able
to verify that the full text is available.

In addition to the Second Amendment, the proposed bill violates
the following provisions of the Constitution:

The requirement to register
currently owned firearms is an ex post facto law, prohibited
by Article I, Section 9, Clause 3 of the United States Constitution.

There is no way that the provision
to register existing firearms can be enforced without giving the
enforcement authority the power to inspect personal property for
unregistered firearms, making this provision of the bill meaningless
and unenforceable without violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The provision to prohibit or limit
person to person firearms sales is similarly unenforceable without
violation of the Fourth Amendment.

The provision (noted in the
NRA-ILA summary but not the summary on Feinstein's website) that
requires covered, grandfathered firearms to be surrendered to the
Federal government on death of the owner is a violation of the Fifth
Amendment's "Takings" clause.

The taxation of grandfathered
firearms under the National Firearms Act is clearly a cruel and
unusual punishment in violation of the Eighth Amendment.

The
provision (similarly noted in the NRA-ILA summary) that registered
firearms cannot be moved across state lines without notification of
the BATFE is a violation of multiple implied rights under the Ninth
Amendment.

In summary, this provision is so Anti-Constitutional in the
extreme that, if Senator Feinstein does introduce it as promised
early in the coming Session of Congress, she should be impeached and
dismissed from that body for violating the trust of the American
people, as should any co-sponsors of the proposed legislation, or
ultimately any person that votes in its favor. (A definition of
impeachable Breach of Trust is included in my essay No
Loopholes available on Kindle and Nook.)

The only reason that, under the argument in the companion article
The Three Pillars of the Second Amendment, the proposed
legislation is not automatically treasonous is that the confiscation
of firearms is piecemeal as the current owners die, rather than
immediate. However, should the proposed legislation include
provisions developed by non-US parties who do not have the best
interests of the American people in mind, such a charge might well
apply.

Terence James Mason is the author of No Loopholes:
Getting Back to Basics, an assessment of the meaning of the Bill
of Rights and a suggestion of additional Constitutional Amendments
to restore the Framer's vision for the Republic. No Loopholes
is electronically published by Twilight Times Books
(http://twilighttimesbooks.com)
in Kindle, Nook, and other popular electronic formats. Mason tweets
on the need for #NoLoopholes @OneAmericanVoice.